Steps to expedite relief payment

Sanction given for additional funds for rain victims

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Friday that steps would be taken to expedite payment of compensation to victims of monsoon havoc and funds for relief would not be a constraint.

Addressing a post-Cabinet press briefing, Mr. Chandy said the Cabinet had decided to give sanction to Collectors’ requests for additional funds. The Chief Minister would convene a special meeting for Idukki, which had witnessed landslips and loss to lives and property. The meeting would be attended by Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash, MPs and MLAs from the district, the district panchayat president, and the Collector.

The Cabinet cleared proposals for tackling price rise on the basis of a conference convened by the Chief Minister. Accordingly, Rs.160 crore had been sanctioned to Supplyco, Consumerfed, and Horticorp for carrying out market intervention operations to arrest price spiral during Onam.

Road repairs

The Cabinet also approved a rough estimate of Rs.431 crore for carrying out repair work on roads damaged during the monsoon. Public Works Minister V.K. Ebrahim Kunju had been entrusted with the task of overseeing the repairs, to be completed in a month.

Mr. Chandy said the Cabinet had approved a proposal envisaging the State government sharing 50 per cent of the cost of construction for two major National Highway bypasses in Kollam and Alappuzha, which had been delayed owing to the refusal of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to begin the work before the land for the entire stretch of the bypasses was acquired.

The estimated cost of the 13-km Kollam bypass had been worked out at Rs.264.67 crore and the 6.8-km Alappuzha bypass at Rs.253.83 crore. It had also been decided not to levy toll on the share of the State government. The NHAI would fix the toll rates for its share as per its norms, he said.